Losing Grace
by birthdaycake-storytime-fall
Summary: In this story, Grace and Connie were still involved in the RTC, but Grace was not involved in the helicopter Crash. Connie returns to work but everyone can tell she is different and it is up to Charlie and Jacob to get her to talk about her secrets, before they cause her to have a breakdown.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Grace had finally been discharged from the hospital, four months after the car crash that her and her mum had been victims of, and Jacob hadn't heard anything from Connie since Grace had woken up. He missed Connie, despite the fact that he was angry at her for ignoring him and acting horrible to him and everyone else.

Connie had also not spoken to Charlie since Grace had woken up; it was almost as if she had disappeared. Charlie often considered going to see Connie, but he didn't think that she would appreciate the company, especially since nobody had any clue what Connie was dealing with at home.

Sam Strachan had been staying in a hotel in Holby since the crash, refusing to leave his daughter when her and her mother both needed support and quite a bit of help around the house, despite the fact that he and Connie did not get on with each other, but they were coping well under the circumstances. Meanwhile, Connie just wished that it was Jacob caring for her and Grace.

Grace was still struggling to walk unsupported but, with physical therapy, she would improve and hopefully make a full recovery, although she knew it would take months, possibly years, to get back to exactly how she used to be.

X

It had been two weeks since Grace's discharge and Jacob could have sworn that he'd seen Connie outside of the hospital, but it was only for a fraction of a second, so he couldn't be too sure.

Just as he was about to go and follow the woman, who may or may not have been the woman he loved, a patient was been admitted after been brought in by an ambulance and Jacob was beckoned to join the team treating the man.

He couldn't focus as well as usual with thoughts of Connie whirling around his head and he was eventually asked by Dylan to work in cubicles instead of RESUS, after the third mistake in less than five minutes.

In cubicles Jacob still found himself making mistakes, although not as dangerous as RESUS, and he had to take a break shortly after beginning to treat his first patient, which was a simple case of a broken wrist.

Jacob soon found himself back outside the entrance of the ED, on the same bench he had been sat on 15 minutes earlier, but this time he didn't even see a glimpse of Connie, or anyone who looked remotely like her.

X

It was almost an hour later when Jacob finally saw Connie again, and this time he was certain that it was her.

After clearing his head he had gone back inside to do his job and he had done it much better than earlier, but as he was finishing up with a young child who had fallen off her bike he saw Connie walking through cubicles. He excused himself from the cubicle he was in and followed Connie through the department.

"What?" Connie turned to him with a harsh glare and raised her eyebrow at him just outside the staff room.

"Are you kidding me? I've not seen you in ages; it's as if I don't exist in your life right now." Jacob snapped at Connie, turning a few heads in the process, as she stood in silence watching him.

"I've got other priorities; my daughter nearly died because of a car accident that I caused!" Connie didn't want to hurt Jacob, but she knew that if he was going to snap then she would have to match him if she had any hope of not appearing weak in front of him and their other colleagues. "If you can't handle the fact that you're not always going to be the only person in my life, then I don't need you!"

Before Jacob could answer Connie had stormed off, leaving the hospital at record speed. He stood, hurt, in front of his friends and patients, feeling embarrassed. Angrily, he unlocked the staff room door and slammed it behind himself as he entered the otherwise empty room.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

It wasn't until a little over three weeks later when Connie was next seen in the hospital, and this time she was there to work.

The news had only been delivered to Elle that morning, so the rest of the staff had no opportunity to be told before Connie came into the department to begin her shift. She looked perfect, as if the crash had never even happened, and she didn't seem the least bit nervous or unconfident that she was fully capable of doing her job, although something about her was off.

The team were slightly shocked by the sudden return of their clinical lead, since she had been away for about 5 months now, but they swiftly adapted and made the best of the situation that they were able to. Even Jacob managed to keep calm and do his job around Connie, despite not knowing where he stood with her.

Just before Jacob's lunch break Charlie went into the office that they shared and sat at his desk before speaking.

"Ah, Jacob, just the man I've been looking for." Charlie began, making Jacob nervous. As far as he was aware he had been working excellently recently, so he couldn't think what could Charlie want to speak to him about, especially since his tone of voice was rather serious.

"Yeah, everything alright?" Jacob replied, trying to act calm and cool.

"Well, I was just thinking actually…maybe one of us should speak to Connie; she's obviously not herself at the moment."

Almost as if a switch had been flicked, Jacob became a lot more defensive. "Yeah, and what do you want me to do? She's been horrible to everyone and she obviously wants nothing to do with me." Jacob had noticed the change in Connie, it was almost exactly the same as when they'd broke up after Grace had returned from America, but he doubted that anything specific could be changed, certainly not from just having a conversation with the woman.

It took Charlie a few long moments to speak again, taking a deep breath before doing so. "I'm sorry, have you been ignoring the fact that your girlfriend is having a breakdown, or have you just not bloody noticed?" Charlie rarely ever raised his voice, especially at work, but he was wondering just how stupid Jacob had to be to not realise that Connie was ill.

Jacob was silent. He didn't know what to say. Was she having a breakdown? And had he been too involved in worrying about his own feelings that he hadn't bothered to recognise hers? "No, Charlie, Connie is not having a breakdown. She's just dealing with a lot at the moment."

"How would you know? You've not even bothered to look at her since the crash." Charlie disputed.

Jacob had no reply, because he knew it was true. He hadn't really tried with her as much as he could have done, not since the few days following the crash, in fact, all he had really done was look at other women, and he had sunken low enough to sleep with one of them – although he had regretted it the very next morning.

"I'll speak to her; you go for your break." Charlie left the office as he finished speaking, not wanting to give Jacob the option to debate.

X

As there was a knock on her office door, Connie called for the person on the other side to come in, hoping it wasn't Jacob. She felt a small wave of relief when Charlie opened the door and stepped into the office.

"Afternoon Charlie, what can I do for you?" Connie kept a formal tone as usual, acting as if the past 6 months had never even happened, which worried Charlie more than he'd initially realised.

Charlie sat on the sofa in Connie's office, noting that she'd moved a few things around in the small room. "I'm just making sure you're alright. You seem different."

"Well, it's been a long time, you know. You can't expect me to stay the same woman forever." Connie replied, already knowing that Charlie could sense that she had changed for the worse, and that it wasn't just a normal change.

"Come on, this is me you're talking to." Charlie sighed quietly and smiled at Connie to reassure her. "What's wrong, Connie?"

"It's not that simple." Although Connie's voice did not crack or change at all, there were visible tears pooling in her eyes. "There's a lot more to it." This in itself was a confession for Connie, although it was too vague for Charlie to make much sense out of it.

"What do you mean? Did something happen to Grace?" Not wanting to push too hard in case Connie built her walls up too high for him to break them down, Charlie carefully selected his words to gleam as much information as possible from Connie.

"Yes. No. I don't know." The room was silent once again, Connie thinking about what to say and Charlie not wanting to interrupt her in case she shut down. After a few minutes Connie spoke again. "Sam took her back to New York."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

After an emotional conversation with Charlie Connie finally recovered enough to get back to work, and since Charlie had spent almost 30 minutes in the office he also had to get back to treating patients. Jacob had also been mentioned in the conversation, Connie struggling to say how she felt about him, and Charlie had realised that what Connie was dealing with was much more serious than she was letting anyone believe.

Charlie left the office and went into cubicles for the rest of his shift and the day passed without incident. At the end of the day Charlie managed to catch Jacob in their office, just as he was about to head to the gym.

"Oh, Jacob. I spoke to Connie and it's obvious that she needs support. From you. I can't tell you what she said, that's up to her, but maybe you should speak to her tonight and try to get her to trust you, and to open up to you again." Charlie secretly wanted to tell Jacob everything, mostly through fear that Connie wouldn't tell him herself, but he had promised Connie that he wouldn't tell anyone what had happened earlier in Connie's office, and he had to keep that promise.

"Right, I'll try Charlie, but what if she doesn't want me to?" Jacob also feared that Connie wouldn't open up to him, since it had been months since the pair had engaged in a real conversation with each other.

"Just try."

With that, Charlie left the office to go home and Jacob locked up the office before walking quickly towards Connie's, hoping that she hadn't gone home already.

When Jacob went into Connie's office he saw that she was still working away at her computer and showed no signs of preparing to go home at the time. This surprised Jacob because he thought that she'd be racing to get home to Grace, but apparently not.

"Con, you're still here?" Jacob asked, sitting himself on her sofa with no invitation, earning him a diluted version of her infamous death glare.

"Yes, I'm working." The short, snappy response was no surprise to Jacob, but it still hurt him.

"You're not going home to Grace. She probably really needs you Con, not some childminder who-"

Jacob was cut short by a full death glare from Connie, although as tears welled in her eye the look lost all meaning.

"I'm sorry. That wasn't what I meant, you are an excellent parent. You just need to work a little bit less, don't you think?" Jacob retraced his steps, making sure that Connie didn't think that he thought of her as a bad parent.

"It's not really any of your business, is it?" Connie replied, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke.

"Well, I want it to be. I want to be a part of your life. You, me, and Grace. All of us together." Jacob remembered the argument they'd had weeks previously and wanted to make it up to Connie, showing her his true intentions.

"Good luck." Connie really wasn't going to give in easily, Jacob had already predicted that, but he thought that she might be a little better than this.

Jacob tried for the next hour to talk to Connie, with varying results as time went by.

Eventually Connie caved and invited him home to her house, offering to make him dinner, but warning him not to react to any changes in the house that he may not be expecting. Presuming that Connie was talking about any injuries that Grace might have, he agreed, and they both went back to Connie's house in her car, Jacob deciding to ride with her and pick his own car up the following day.

X

Jacob, as promised, did not react to the empty house when he and Connie arrived, although inside he was questioning everything, and alarm bells were ringing quietly in the back of his mind.

Connie soon realised that she had no food in the house, and didn't want to disappoint Jacob after offering him dinner. "You know, Jacob, I feel way too tired to cook tonight, since I was at work so late, so why don't we just order a takeaway?"

Jacob enjoyed takeaways and always agreed to them with Connie, since he tried to eat as healthy as possible most of the time. "Yeah, how about pizza?"

A sparkle flashed in Connie's eyes at the mention of pizza, and she instantly agreed.

They both ordered a large pizza each, both of them starving after their day at work. "You know, I had forgotten just how hungry you got working at the ED all day." Connie commented after they had ordered the food, including sides and a dessert.

"Well, it's been a while. I'm sure you'll get used to it after not too long. That place is in your blood." Jacob replied, glad that they couple were able to have friendly small talk passing between them.

Once their meals arrived, in less time than they had expected, they tucked in together whilst watching a film on the TV.

X

As the couple were beginning to get ready for bed that evening Connie was in her en-suite bathroom removing her make-up and washing her face whilst Jacob waited for her in bed.

As Connie got into bed Jacob took a deep breath and decided to approach what would inevitably be a difficult conversation. "Connie, I know I promised, but I need to ask. Where is Grace?"

Connie gulped, almost surprised that Jacob had managed to hold the question back for so long, before she answered. "She's staying with Sam."

"In New York? For how long?" Jacob queried, worried that there was more to this than Connie was letting on.

"Sam took her." And with that, Connie broke down in tears, only feeling slight relief that she had told Jacob, whilst the rest of her felt terrible for letting her daughter go once again.


	4. Chapter 4

**So in this chapter Connie hasn't visited Steph in prison.**

 _3 days later_

Jacob had been staying with Connie since she told him what Grace had moved away, figuring she could use the emotional support. The couple were content with spending most of their time together, Connie was even beginning to let her guard down a bit around Jacob and he was starting to see just how painful it had been for Connie to let Grace go for a second time.

The pair arrived at work together for the third time in as many days, which was making the staff talk about their relationship, since previous rumours had speculated that they may have broken up, based on Jacob's sulky mood and obvious lack of communication with the so-called 'Ice Queen'.

"You go into the office and I'll buy our coffees. See you in a minute." Jacob called to Connie as they entered the department together, the consultant already past the reception desk on the way to her office.

As Connie entered the room she found an already overwhelming pile of paperwork on her desk, and she guessed that more would find its way to her by the end of the shift. Sighing, she hung up her coat and switched on her computer, preparing to start the day. But not without coffee.

It was then that Jacob entered the small room with 2 cups of coffee and a chocolate bar. "The chocolate is for an energy boost later on in the shift, not for breakfast." Jacob offered as a way of an explanation.

"Thank you, you didn't have to do that." Connie smiled, placing the chocolate bar safely in her drawer. "Also, I will decide when I eat chocolate, not you or anyone else." Connie joked.

"Fine by me, just a suggestion Queen B. So, do you want to get lunch today?" Jacob asked, perching on the edge of Dylan's vacant desk.

"Oh, I already said I would with Charlie. I'm in a meeting tomorrow lunch too, but how about Tuesday?" Connie drank her coffee and opened her e-mail account, skim-reading most of them, but paying more attention to any important messages she had received. "We also need to do a food shop at some point, or we'll never have a proper cooked meal together."

"I had a thought about that, actually. We could order it online and get it delivered, saves us a bit of time." Jacob suggested, watching Connie already intently staring at her computer screen.

"I like your thinking, Masters."

"Okay, we'll do that tonight then, yeah?" Jacob asked, hoping to finish the conversation before Connie got sucked into her job completely.

"Yes, of course. I am listening, you know. I'm just-"

"Busy. I know, I need to get changed and start my shift too." Jacob smiled, getting up to leave the room. "See you later then Beauchamp."

"See you later Masters."

X

Connie was office-bound all morning, almost desperate to complete all of her paperwork before lunch so that she could spend the afternoon actually treating patients. Eventually, after what felt like forever, her lunch break rolled around and she left the office in search of Charlie.

She met Charlie in reception and they made their way through the maze-like corridors of the hospital towards the refectory. Connie hadn't properly spent any time at all with Charlie since the crash almost 6 months ago, apart from spilling her heart out to him on her first shift back at the hospital.

Once they had paid for their meals the pair found an empty table to sit at.

"So, how have you been?" Charlie started the conversation with the question that had been on the tip of his tongue since he found out Grace had let again.

"I've been well, thank you. With Jacob's help I'm getting by." Connie knew better than to lie to Charlie; he could read her like a book. "Losing Grace again was the hardest part about all of this – even harder knowing how ill she is and that she doesn't have her mum there to help her through it – but that's what she wanted to do."

"I've noticed you and Jacob have been much closer these past couple of days. And maybe Grace will change her mind in time, you never know." Charlie comforted, cutting up his jacket potato to allow it to cool down.

The friends continued to talk over their meals, both of them enjoying having a real break from their demanding jobs.

"So, what's going on with your job then? I mean, in terms of you being a consultant or taking the reigns as clinical lead again." Charlie probed, noticing that Connie hadn't mentioned it to him at all since her return.

Connie finished her mouthful of food before responding. "Well, I'm actually in a meeting about that tomorrow. I think the plan at the moment is for me to remain a consultant for a while, then possibly joint clinical lead with Elle before eventually being clinical lead full-time again, once I've been back at work a while."

"Well, let me know how it goes tomorrow. That's with Hanssen and members of the board, right?" Charlie asked, interested to know what his friend was planning in terms of her career, knowing that it was probably the most important thing to her with Grace gone.

"Yes, I will do."

After a little over half an hour both Charlie and Connie needed to return to work, Connie determined to finish her paperwork within the next hour.

X

An hour later Connie had finally completed all of her paperwork and sent it off to the relevant people and places around the hospital. It was just then that she remembered about the chocolate bar in her desk drawer. She took it out and unwrapped it but her office phone went off just as she was about to take the first bite.

Sighing, she put down her chocolate and picked up the phone. "Connie Beauchamp." The clipped, harsh tone of voice made the person on the other end of the phone stutter before replying.

"Right, and it can't be anyone else?" the consultant stared longingly at the chocolate bar before slipping it back into her desk drawer before responding to the person on the other end of the phone and hanging up.

Arriving in resus Connie instantly noticed Steph's elevated pulse and blood pressure as she fought against the nurses trying to keep her on the bed.

"Steph, you need to calm down. You wanted to see me?" Connie strode with a false confidence towards the woman she had sworn to hate.

"I want you to treat me. Only you." The anger in Steph's eyes was evident, and made Connie wary of her intentions, but the prison guard attached to Steph's wrist made her feel a little more secure.

"As you insist." Connie stepped towards the bed. "I need ABCs, Us and Es, LFTs, a tox screen and a full set of bloods. A CT scan as well." Connie ordered to Charlie, glancing at the screen at the side of Steph's bed.

"Any health problems since your discharge?" Connie flipped through Steph's medical notes.

"No. A bit of pain, but nothing in the past few weeks."

Connie frowned at the patient's medical history as she spoke. "Looking at your notes I think a bit of pain may be an understatement. So, what happened today?"

"I passed out, don't remember why, and hit my head on the way down."

The brunette consultant nodded and left the room and bumped into Charlie in the corridor.

"You're handling her very well at the moment Connie, but are you sure you're the right person to treat her?" The older nurse questioned.

"Charlie, my job is to make sure that everyone who needs treatment gets it, including her, if she refuses to be treated by anyone else then I will treat her myself. If she has a serious head injury and I ignore her she could die, and as a doctor I can't let that happen." Steph's arrival had made Connie very tense and she knew she was close to snapping.

"Okay, but make sure it's not too much for you." Charlie warned, knowing how easily Connie could snap and turn into the feared 'ice queen'.

Connie turned back to resus silently, the sound of her heels clicking beneath her.

Other than the prison guard Connie and Steph were alone in resus.

"I wanted to ask you something." Steph started, confirming Connie's suspicion that she had requested Connie for some reason other than purely medical treatment. "I need you to drop the charges."

"No."

"Look, I need to see Carmel." Steph pleaded, though the tears pooling in her eyes made Connie feel nothing.

"She needs someone who will care for her, not make her feel worthless. You nearly killed your daughter, mine too! We both know Carmel is much better off without you."

Connie quickly left the room, making the excuse that there were other patients in the department that needed her, but instead she went to the closest ladies' toilets to wipe her eyes, re-apply her make up, and make herself presentable again, refusing to appear weak in front of Steph.

A while later the results were back for Steph and Connie returned to resus with Charlie by her side, secretly glad he was there with her.

"Right, you're anaemic. It's easily treatable. We're still waiting on a CT scan." The brunette consultant turned to the senior nurse as she spoke.

Charlie replied "She's high on the list as she has a head injury, but there are higher priorities as a result of the crash."

"Right, well then I'll be back once you're able to be taken up. For now can we have an iron infusion, Charlie?" The consultant replied, leaving the room after placing Steph's file at the foot of the hospital bed.

Jacob was waiting for Connie just outside resus as she emerged. "You okay with her in there sweet cheeks?"

"Yes. And it's Mrs Beauchamp." Connie's clipped reply set alarm bells of in Jacob's mind, knowing that she was trying to protect herself from harm by appearing heartless.

"Coffee?" Jacob replied cheerily, showing that he wouldn't easily be put off by Connie's strict tongue.

"Go on then. I'll buy this time." The icy façade was already slipping, and all Jacob had to do was offer her a drink. Connie really did have a soft spot for him and she felt sorry for being so distant for the past 6 months that she felt she would spend her whole life making up for that, even more so if she snapped at him.

X

It was more than 20 minutes later when Connie was approached by Charlie in her office. "Sorry to interrupt, but CT are ready for Steph Simms now."

"It's not a problem Charlie, I've just finished my coffee." Connie replied, following Charlie out of the office as Jacob returned to work once again.

Once inside the scanning room Connie turned to the prison guard. "You'll need to leave the room for the duration of the scan."

"But I've been given very strict orders from the prison."

"I'm sure you have, but as a doctor I am not allowed to expose you to that level of radiation unnecessarily."

After some debate Connie and the team took Steph up to the CT scanner room whilst the prison guard stood at the door, determined to spend as little time as possible away from the prisoner.

Connie stood frowning at the screen as Steph was in the scan. "Okay, it's a minor concussion so she can be moved into a cubicle."

As Connie returned to the ED she saw that Jacob was waiting for her in reception, and as she looked up at the clock she noticed it was a few minutes past the end of her shift.

Upon noticing Connie staring Charlie went up to her and whispered in her ear. "You can go home; I'll get Dylan to take over until she's ready to be moved to the wards."

X

A couple of hours later Jacob and Connie were laid together in bed on Connie's iPad, choosing what they needed to order from Waitrose online to eat for the rest of the week. Connie remembered how she used to do this when Grace was a very young child, finding it much easier than taking a young child around a supermarket whilst she was on her own.

Jacob and Connie had stopped by the fish and chip shop on the end of Connie's road to get dinner, knowing that there was barely any food in the house that could make a real meal for the pair. Jacob was planning to go shopping quickly after their shift tomorrow to keep them going for a couple of days until they had a delivery shop for their groceries.

"Damn." Connie murmured, nestled into Jacob's side.

"Everything okay sweet cheeks?" Jacob asked, frowning at Connie.

"I forgot my chocolate bar in my drawer at work."

 **That was way longer than I expected it to be, especially since not much happened in that chapter, but I wanted to upload something with this being one of my only two ongoing stories. Sorry again for the late update, but as usual college and mental illnesses are not making it easy for me to keep on top of this. I will try way harder to upload frequently because I almost forgot how much I love writing.**

 **Also, if you've got any suggestions for future chapters in this story or for any one-shots that you'd like me to write then please comment or PM me to let me know, thanks!**


	5. Chapter 5

"So, you've booked a full week off, Beauchamp, any exciting plans?" Jacob asked, sauntering over to his girlfriend as she came into work to begin her shift.

"A spur of the moment planned trip to see Grace, actually. She's recovering really well." Connie answered, picking up a pile of patient notes on the way to her office. "I would have invited you but she really wants it to just be me."

"Not a problem Queen B, I'll keep the ship afloat here whilst you're away." Jacob replied, going off to treat patients as Connie went up to her office.

X

Just as Connie was ready to start her treating patients, after checking e-mails and filing some paperwork, Charlie knocked on her office door and she beckoned for him to come in.

"Morning Charlie, what can I do for you today?" Connie smiled, in a chirpy mood.

"I'm good thank you. Jacob's just told me that you're off to see Grace."

"Yeah, I am. I'm so excited to see her, but I know that saying goodbye is going to be so painful."

"Well then, don't focus on that until it arrives; you haven't even got there yet." Charlie replied, making Connie smile with his wise advice, which she knew she could always rely on.

"Thank you, Charlie."

"So, how did the meeting go about your clinical lead position?"

"Yeah, it went well. When I get back from New York I'll be joint clinical lead with Elle for a couple of months before taking full control of the reigns." Connie explained, proud of herself for coming so far in her recovery and proving that she couldn't be broken.

"You must be looking forward to it." Charlie replied, seeing how happy Connie was.

"Yes, I mean really if I wasn't going to be clinical lead there'd be little point in even being here, since it isn't actually my specialism; I'd be better off going back to cardiothoracics."

Intrigued at this Charlie decided to ask a question that had been at the back of his mind since she first arrived at the ED. "Do you ever consider going back to that?"

"Well, I came to the ED to change things, to make it better for the patients, and it would be such a shame to see all of that go to waste if I left." Connie answered, just as her phone began ringing.

"I'll see you down there then." Charlie said, leaving the office as Connie picked up her office phone to answer the call.

X

With only a few hours to go until the end of her shift Connie was in cubicles dealing with a volatile patient on her own whilst Jacob was chasing up blood results.

Jacob was walking back into cubicles as he saw Connie fall through the curtain to the floor and he rushed over to his girlfriend as a different nurse pulled the curtain open.

Jacob and Charlie both took Connie back to their office, knowing she wouldn't want attention on her, but she tried to push the nurses off her, insisting that she would be fine.

The two men got Connie to sit down in Charlie's chair as she tried to refuse to co-operate.

"Connie, you need to let us check you over. You'd rather it was in here than cubicles wouldn't you?" Charlie reasoned gently, realising that Connie was in pain when she winced.

"Okay, but I'm telling you now, there's nothing wrong." Connie lied, determined not to show pain or weakness.

"Right. Any headaches, back pain, nausea, or blurred vision?" Charlie questioned, watching Connie shake her head in reply to everything.

"Con, you need to be honest, you know how frustrating it is when patients lie." Jacob said, leaning forward slightly.

"Okay, I have a headache, but nothing else. It's just a dull ache really, I'm sure it will pass in a few minutes." Connie admitted, although she wasn't convincing either nurse.

"Was your vision blurry when you first fell?" Charlie prodded.

"Well, maybe a little bit, but it passed quickly." Connie noticed the concerned glances between the two nurses.

"We should get you a CT scan then, just in case. And I want to check your back too, you fell pretty hard." Charlie picked up his office phone and dialled CT as he spoke.

"Charlie, I need to be out of here in 50 minutes, I've got my flight to catch." Connie protested, not wanting to miss this trip.

"I know, but I have a duty of care. If everything's fine then we can get you out of here in perfect time." Jacob replied, as Charlie booked the CT scan.

Charlie put the phone down and smiled "CT's in about 10 minutes. I'd better get back to work; you don't need both me and Jacob here." Charlie left the room to get back into the ED.

X

Connie and Jacob were in the on-call room after Connie's CT scan. Connie was arguing with Jacob and trying to leave but he knew she couldn't. "Connie-"

"No, I need to go home, Jacob." Connie insisted.

"Connie, you're concussed, and you're back's hurting, you need to stay here." Jacob argued, trying not to get frustrated with Connie as Charlie entered the room, hearing that Connie's CT results were back.

"Connie, I know you want to see Grace, but you've got a head injury. I'm sorry but you're going to have to stay here overnight." Jacob sat on the bed, gently pulling Connie's arm to sit her next to him as hot, silent tears ran down her face. "I know you're upset, and I would be too, but you're health has to be your priority right now."

Connie leant into Jacob's shoulder as she cried, heartbroken at missing her chance to see her daughter for the first time in months. "Can you call Sam? I don't think I can stand to hear him blame me right now." Connie asked Jacob, turning her head to face him.

"I'll call him for you Connie," Charlie replied. "Jacob can get you settled up on the ward upstairs then."

Jacob led Connie out of the room and up to the ward she'd be staying on for the night whilst Charlie returned to the ED to call Sam and make sure everything was running smoothly.

X

As Jacob was going to get himself something to eat Charlie entered Connie's cubicle on the ward.

"Grace is upset, but I've promised that in a couple of days you'll be able to go out and see her. I've told her that you were hurt, that you're going to be okay, and that it wasn't your fault." Charlie explained before Connie even had to ask.

Connie nodded and smiled, struggling to sleep but exhausted from the day's events. "Thank you Charlie. And…I'm sorry for being difficult earlier, it's just been hard to speak to her since…and she's still blaming me."

"You should be able to fly out the day after tomorrow, so you'll get chance to catch up and to work things out between you." Charlie replied, leaving Connie to get some rest as Jacob returned.

"I got you some fruit, and a little bit of chocolate too, for medicinal purposes." Jacob smiled, sitting in the hard, plastic chair preparing for a long night.

 **I know I say this with every update, but I'm sorry it's taken so long. I'm trying to write shorter chapters from now on so that I can upload more frequently. As usual though I do have exams coming up, and they're really important so it's likely to be after that when I am able to properly upload as often as I'd like to.**


	6. Chapter 6

_In New York_

Connie was woken up by Grace at 10 in the morning after flying to New York from Holby late the previous evening. Connie's flight was supposed to get into New York at around 9 o'clock so that she could see Grace before she went to bed, but a 2 hour delay had meant that it was after 11 o'clock by the time Connie arrived at Sam's house and Grace had been fast asleep for over an hour.

"Dad says you need to sleep, but it's quite late in the morning now and I really wanted to see you." Grace whispered to her mother, trying to avoid being heard by Sam.

"I see." Connie replied sleepily, still with her eyes closed and her head resting on the pillows. "Well, I wouldn't want to sleep all day, so I'm glad you've woken me now."

Just then Sam walked into the room and smiled at the mother and daughter lying in bed together, Connie wrapped in the duvet, and grace on top of the duvet next to her mum. "Morning Connie."

"Morning." Connie mumbled as she sat up and opened her eyes.

"Can I get you a coffee? Or anything for breakfast?" Sam asked, admiring Grace sat on Connie's knee.

"I'm actually going to have a shower first, if that's alright. I'll be down in about 10 minutes." Connie replied, waiting until Grace stood up before swinging her own legs off the side of the bed.

"Of course, I'll see you down there." Sam replied before leaving the room with Grace close behind him.

* * *

After a filling breakfast and a hot cup of coffee Connie was listening to Grace talking enthusiastically about what she had been doing since coming back to New York with her dad. Connie smiled and nodded in all the right places, asking questions where she wanted to hear more, but it hurt her to hear about how happy her daughter was without her.

"Well, I've booked a table at a restaurant for dinner tonight, but we've got no plans for the rest of the day." Sam commented, once Grace had exhausted all of her stories. "What do you guys want to do?"

Grace suggested playing in the garden with the dog for the day, since they had a massive backyard and the sun was shining. Connie agreed and Sam said he had deck chairs outside so that he and Connie could sunbathe for the day.

As they sat in the morning sun watching Grace and Simba run around Sam turned to Connie. "She's so happy you got him." It wasn't what he wanted to say, but he thought he'd start the conversation on a lighter topic.

"Well, I'm quite glad he's not running around my house anymore, if I'm honest." Connie replied.

"He's getting calmer and better behaved as time goes on, but I know what you mean." Without much of a reply from Connie Sam decided to build up the courage to say what he wanted to. "She's really missed you. I know it didn't seem like it earlier, when she was on about everything we've been doing here, but it's a front."

"I know…" Connie replied sharply, but not harshly, signalling that she'd had enough of that particular topic of conversation.

Sam wanted to tell Connie about an idea that Grace had talked to him about earlier in the week, but he knew Connie would probably bite his head off if he did say anything, assuming that Sam had on some way put the idea in Grace's head. For some reason, one that Sam couldn't suite grasp, Grace thought that Connie could move to New York, not too far away from where Sam lived, and they could somehow work out how to do the happy family act that they had done for a short while when Grace was in hospital.

After the tension between the adults had died down and their food had been fully digested they joined Grace running around on the grass and played games until they were all starving.

"I've got some pasta salad in the fridge from yesterday, I'll serve that up." Sam declared, walking back into the house with two hungry Beauchamp women following him.

* * *

After lunch Grace asked her mum if she'd be up for visiting Central Park zoo whilst she was visiting New York.

"Of course I would, that sounds great." Connie replied, remembering that only time she'd taken Grace to a zoo. "You won't remember this, but I took you to a zoo in Bristol when you were about 2 years old. You thought the alligators were dinosaurs."

Grace laughed. "Really?" She asked as Sam listening on, not having heard this story before.

"Yeah. You saw them and asked what the dinosaurs were doing. You were very young. I told you they were sunbathing, because they weren't doing much, and you just laughed at them and said 'Silly dinosaurs'." Connie laughed, glad that she had fond memories with Grace from hear early years.

* * *

The rest of the afternoon had been spent with Sam, Grace, and Connie all telling stories and sharing memories before playing in the sun for another couple of hours.

"We'll have to drive, but it should take us less than half an hour to get there." Sam said as the family were getting into the car, all dressed up to go out to dinner together.

* * *

The cosy Italian place was well-lit and warm, and since it was in a discrete area, it was mostly quiet, other than a few families and couples seated at dark wooden tables.

The family were all handed menu's and the waiter left them to make their decisions.

Grace immediately scanned the pizza menu, her eyes wide as she saw all the choices. Meanwhile, Sam and Connie were choosing their drinks and finding a starter for them all to share.

When the waiter reappeared Sam asked for garlic bread for the table and a small glass of the chef's choice of wine for himself, knowing he was driving back. Connie ordered herself the same drink as Sam and a cola for Grace, who said she wanted the ham and cheese pizza. Sam and Connie needed a little more time to decide on their main courses so the waiter went to organise the drinks for the table to let them choose.

* * *

Once all the food had arrived the conversation died down and the family tucked into their meals.

Sam had chosen a margarita pizza whilst Connie had opted for a pasta dish with creamy cheese sauce. The three of them all agreed that it was some of the best food they'd ever had and after Grace ordered ice-cream for dessert Sam paid and left a generous tip.

* * *

Once back at the house Grace was almost immediately ready for bed, despite it being a little early. Sam suggested that they watch a film in the living room and Grace picked a DVD from their collection; predictably it was The Lion King.

Before the film had even finished all three were asleep on the large sofas and that's how they spent the night, Grace between both of her parents.

* * *

 **So I'm aware that the pacing of this story isn't quite right in places, but I wanted to get something up for you guys. I'm planning on finishing this story in a few chapters time, and the same with The Invisible Baby, if anyone here reads that.**

 **Please comment to let me know what you think of this story or chapter and I hope that the next update won't be too far in the future.**


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